


Figures

by TenSpencerRiedPlease



Category: Black Panther (2018), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, BAMF T'Challa (Marvel), I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Modern Royalty, Protective T'Challa (Marvel), Sweet T'Challa (Marvel), Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, i have no idea tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 00:13:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13581939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenSpencerRiedPlease/pseuds/TenSpencerRiedPlease
Summary: An arranged marriage wasn’t really on Tony’s list of things he wanted to do before he died, but here he was meeting his new lover he guessed. Looking at T’Challa it was obvious he grew up royalty just from the way he stood and Tony can’t help but feel inadequate and underdressed compared to T’Challa’s stunning outfit. It wasn’t even flashy- it was all black but the silver detailing on his long coat was stunning and held enough of an ornate feel to it that it went from a casual jacket to something you’d wear to a special event. Tony wore fuckingjeans.





	Figures

An arranged marriage wasn’t really on Tony’s list of things he wanted to do before he died, but here he was meeting his new lover he guessed. Looking at T’Challa it was obvious he grew up royalty just from the way he stood and Tony can’t help but feel inadequate and underdressed compared to T’Challa’s stunning outfit. It wasn’t even flashy- it was all black but the silver detailing on his long coat was stunning and held enough of an ornate feel to it that it went from a casual jacket to something you’d wear to a special event. Tony wore fucking _jeans_.

“You’re reputation precedes you,” T’Challa tells him.

“What exactly does that mean?” Tony asks, hoping to figure out exactly what a reclusive foreign nation might know about him specifically.

T’Challa just raises an eyebrow, “that depends on what you think your reputation consists of,” he says. Tony looks away and winces, knowing that nothing good could have been relayed there. He didn’t have a good reputation in his own country let alone other countries. Yeah, this was going to be a shitty marriage.

“Yeah, alright. Lets just uh… get this thing over with,” he mumbles.

*

T’Challa frowns, trying to figure out how he managed to botch this so fast. “I think I offended him,” he tells Shuri, who throws her head back and laughs.

“You have known him for four minutes, how could you have offended him?” she asks.

That was a good question. “I’m not sure. I just said that his reputation preceded him, that is not offensive.” At least he was sure that was not offensive but Shuri’s curious look tells him that maybe this was not as obvious as he thought it was.

“Well maybe it is here, we don’t know,” Shuri says. That was… reasonable, but no one else in the room seemed affronted by his comment, it was just Tony that reacted badly. When he tells Shuri this she shrugs, “maybe it’s an age thing. We have that,” she points out.

Not with reputations though, mostly it was offensive to treat certain age groups in certain ways. T’Challa thought that was just normal though. “Well I don’t know but I offended him and how am I supposed to deal with that?” he asks.

Shuri starts laughing again, “well you only have the rest of your life to figure it out,” she tells him.

T’Challa gives her an unimpressed look but sighs, accepting that he accidentally started his marriage off badly by accident and now he was going to literally have to live with it.

*

T’Challa was nice enough, Tony decided, and seemed to do his best to try and make Tony more comfortable in a country that was hot and sticky and generally uncomfortable. What was hot weather to him was mild weather to Wakandans and it was pretty clear everyone else in the country thought he was being melodramatic but T’Challa seemed to understand that Tony just wasn’t used to being this hot. Maybe that was because America, at least to him, was cold all the time so he was more willing to listen to Tony’s disgruntled complaining about the weather.

Tony found the behavior somewhat odd considering how this all started, but he wasn’t going to complain about it because he was stuck in a foreign country with only T’Challa as a lifeline considering he didn’t know the language, the culture, or literally anything else. He barely knew what was safe to eat, and other basic things like what bugs and plants were safe was totally lost on him. So T’Challa being accommodating was at least a blessing, but Tony didn’t really know how to react to it. Mostly he just took thanked T’Challa and went back to doing his own thing in his room until he could go home. Both of their parents figured a few months in each other’s country would help them adjust to each other and their cultural differences but Tony had to wonder what was happening after that.

So they spend time in each other’s countries, where did they go after that? Did Tony get dragged off from his country or did T’Challa? Because where he stood he was noble, but T’Challa was set to be a king so Tony was likely going to get dragged off from everything he knew to a country that didn’t much like him. Granted Wakanda was a closed off country so he understood that they wouldn’t have liked _anyone_ not from their country but it didn’t make his experience any more pleasant. It didn’t help that he was quite likely going to have to live here too.

He’s hiding in his room as usual when a soft knock on the door alerts him to someone’s presence. He sighs and drags himself off the bed and walks over to the door, unsurprised to find T’Challa behind it. For a moment he shifts awkwardly before he sighs, “I know you’re not happy here, I don’t blame you,” T’Challa says softly, “but I don’t want you to remain that way. If… if you’d like I want to show you something.”

Tony considers it for a moment before he nods, “sure, alright,” he says in a voice that doesn’t much sound like his own. Its softer, more reserved than he’s ever been, but he was stuck in an unfamiliar place with the impending knowledge that when he did get to go home it wasn’t permanent. Not being himself was probably expected at this point and he’d give T’Challa several points for putting up with it. He wasn’t so sure he’d be so accommodating if he were in T’Challa’s place.

T’Challa considers him for a long moment, “you can say no. That-” he winces, “I don’t mean that you need my permission or whatever, I am just saying that you don’t need to appease me or agree with what I want because you feel uncomfortable saying no. If you don’t want to do something, just say so,” he says.

He can’t help but let out a small snort and he shakes his head. “Wow, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been told to have an opinion. If I didn’t want to go though I wouldn’t have agreed- you can count on that,” he says. T’Challa looks shocked and Tony frowns, but its T’Challa’s words that clue him into his reaction.

“I think that may be the most you’ve ever said to me before. It’s been nearly a month,” he adds. That… probably wasn’t wrong. And most of what he’s said has been complaining about the heat.

“I’m not usually this quiet,” he says. Usually people were all but begging him to shut up but T’Challa doesn’t look like he believes that exactly, and when his facial expression changes he looks more worried for Tony. He has to wonder why T’Challa cared at all- he’s gathered that arranged marriages weren’t normal for his culture like it was for Tony’s, and something his father only seemed to agree to because Tony’s family in particular had a lot of resources and political clout. It was a strategically good decision, though he’d been quite surprised that T’Chaka at least considered compatibility when making this decision while Tony’s own parents didn’t. Love wasn’t the purpose of these things, but in Wakanda love and connection were important so he guessed in context that wasn’t so weird. He had to at least appreciate that T’Challa didn’t get stuck with Justin Hammer- sure Tony wasn’t a catch but Hammer was way worse.

“Well, I’d be happy to talk to you more. I’m sure you have questions- _I_ have questions. About America, I mean. I have no questions about my own country except for a few of our national dishes. Absolutely no bird from this country tastes good, why do we eat them?” he asks himself more than Tony but he laughs softly anyways.

“Yeah your birds are pretty gross. What questions do you have though?” he asks. He’s lived his entire life there though he’s travelled quite a bit- but his own country didn’t seem all that odd or foreign to him. He was curious how T’Challa saw it given how different his own country was.

T’Challa holds out his hand and Tony hesitates for only a moment before taking it, allowing T’Challa to weave his fingers through his own. “Mostly I wonder about your… lack of color I suppose. As you can see Wakanda is very bright, America is far less bright. Less detailed too,” he says.

Yeah that was an understatement. Patterns, textures, colors- Wakanda had all that in droves and Tony supposed that America in comparison would look pretty dull. “To be honest I don’t really know how to answer that. To us we have lots of color and patterns, but compared to Wakanda we definitely don’t.” T’Challa leads him along the hallway, still holding Tony’s hand and he laughs.

“You do not have colors and patterns, your entire country is dressed for a funeral by our standards. It was jarring,” he says and Tony lets out a small laugh.

“Yeah I’d bet. But I maintain that we have color and stuff, we just aren’t flashy about it,” he says.

T’Challa snorts, “not flashy- you barely have pigments. And your fashion is so… restrictive,” he says. “In Wakanda- well you’ve been here for three weeks. You know that our fashion is far more experimental than America’s. Personally I think we dress better,” he says but his tone is teasing so Tony doesn’t take offense.

“I actually don’t disagree. Wakandan fashion is beautiful,” he says. It was one of the few things he liked about being here- that and the technology. Shuri was the better inventor out of her and T’Challa, and Tony was certain she was better than him too. Not an easy feat that was certain, and her inventions were both stunning in design and in function.

They round a corner and find T’Chaka standing there, presumably doing something before going to bed. The king looks over at his son and smiles, eyes sparkling as he spots his hand around Tony’s. “It is nice to see you two getting along. But I suspect you have plans so I will leave you to them,” he says, pausing my T’Challa for a moment and squeezing his shoulder and murmuring something in Wakandan before walking away. Tony raises an eyebrow but T’Challa leaves it alone, pulling him along through the hallways again.

“Why do you always look surprised when you see my father speak to me? It is like you’ve never seen affection before,” he says.

Not affection, fatherly love. But he wasn’t about to tell T’Challa that. They might technically be married but they definitely didn’t know each other well enough for that kind of information. “We aren’t as uh… affectionate I guess in America.” It wasn’t false- here touching was a regular thing and he was happy for the aversion Wakandans seemed to have to him because he wouldn’t know what to do with all the physical affection the country had. T’Challa obviously noticed this because he only ever touched Tony if he was invited or, like his hand extension earlier, Tony gave him some kind of permission.

“I noticed that too. You’re country is very conservative, something I find particularly odd when you brag about being the free world,” T’Challa says.

Tony hadn’t thought of that and he shrugs, “guess you’re right. So were are we going?” he asks.

T’Challa smiles, “you will see.”

*

Isolation was never a good thing, and although T’Challa had no experience with depression his experience with Shuri has taught him a few things about it. Thankfully she learned to manage the symptoms, but Tony had been falling headfirst into them. So he thought maybe he would try and get Tony out of his room to do something. With Shuri he’d been promptly told to fuck off but Tony had taken him up on the offer so it gave him a little hope that maybe he and Tony could work something out after all. He knew Tony wanted nothing to do with this arranged marriage, and whatever it was T’Challa said when they first met obviously didn’t help any but T’Challa thought that maybe showing Tony the beauty of his country might help him adjust to being in it.

Personally he thought that the night sky was stunning especially by his home. It was away from the large cities and light pollution so the stars were visible and bright. Tony clearly sees at least some of the beauty in it because his eyes are immediately drawn up to the stars. T’Challa smiles, gently drawing him forward, towards the tree in the middle of the clearing. It takes a moment for him to notice but when he does he jumps in surprise and T’Challa remembers that large cats weren’t normal in America.

“Are those… _panthers_?” Tony asks, fear high in his tone.

“They are harmless. Well, not harmless, they can kill you but they tend to leave us alone if we are respectful to them. They are used to humans though- in Wakanda the people learned to work with the wildlife instead of pushing it back so we’ve long ago learned to deal with the panthers. And the panthers have learned to deal with us,” he says, reaching up towards one of the large cats. The panther closest to him extends its head downward and T’Challa feels Tony press against his back, clearly still frightened but not willing to leave his side. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t pleased with that.

The panther sniffs at his hand for a moment before nosing at it much like the average housecat would. T’Challa gently pets its muzzle and Tony lets out a small noise of surprise. Drawn to the noise the panther looks his way and Tony presses himself further into T’Challa’s back. “Relax,” he tells Tony, “they are used to humans so an attack is unlikely.”

“Unlikely isn’t impossible, you’re petting a fucking jungle cat,” Tony says.

“One that is used to being around humans- it makes a difference. If they were not used to humans they would react much differently. I know this for a fact- the panthers in the jungles are not like the ones by the cities and I wouldn’t be stupid enough to pet one of those. Now relax, these ones spend time here frequently,” he says, reaching back up towards the cat. The panther sticks its head back into T’Challa’s hand and he pets the panther’s soft fur.

“I can’t believe you are petting a cat that can eat your head off,” Tony hisses, flinching when the cat looks at him but the panther quickly gathers it will get no attention from Tony and goes back to being pet by T’Challa.

“Technically you could eat my head off too but I spend time with you,” he points out.

“I am so _not_ comparable to a wild animal,” Tony says. “Besides, it’d take me a lot longer than a panther would to maul you to death.”

Maybe so but humans were still far more deadly to each other than a panther was. Or even a half a pack of them sitting in a tree. He laughs when the panther jumps out of the tree, making Tony jump behind him, especially when the panther circles to sniff the unfamiliar human. T’Challa spent regular time with these cats, Tony was new and of course the panthers would be curious about him. “Can you not?” Tony asks the panther as it leans forward and sniffs at him gingerly.

“She is just trying to figure out who you are, let her. And don’t run, that will likely result in you being eaten,” he adds.

Tony turns to look at him, “one, was that supposed make me feel better? And two, I suggest you come up with less terrifying dates.”

*

T’Challa was easy to get along with even if he was reckless by Tony’s standards, which were high standards to meet in regards to recklessness. But his doing his best to try and connect with Tony helped in making him feel more like someone Tony wanted to spend time with than someone who was about to take Tony from everything he knew. It probably helped that he was smart even if he had a bad habit of petting jungle cats that Tony still wasn’t used to. The panthers had taken a liking to him though and T’Challa told him that in his culture that was a blessing. Tony just thought the panthers were trying to get him comfortable before they ate him.

Regardless his remaining time in Wakanda went by quickly and when he finds himself back in his home country he relaxes. T’Challa noticed, Tony knew he did, and he supposed the difference in behavior was obvious when he went from barely speaking and being standoffish to dragging T’Challa to whatever tourist attraction he thinks he might like.

“Even your _cities_ lack color,” T’Challa says and Tony makes an offended noise.

“Do not- they look cool at night when things are lit up,” he says.

“With what, a million fast food signs?” T’Challa asks, laughing when Tony makes another scandalized noise. He guessed in comparison to Wakanda’s interesting mix of cities ranging anywhere from huts on dirt to futuristic green spaces combined with buildings and solar technology he’d be underwhelmed too.

“We have more than fast food here,” Tony mumbles, “its looks pretty, okay?”

‘Well, maybe your tower- but _that_ is well designed,” T’Challa says, smiling.

Tony grins, “yeah, yeah. Its kind of outdated now, and admittedly not a pretty as Wakanda but thanks,” he says.

T’Challa wraps an arm around him, “in your defense I’m not certain you would be able to find something I would find prettier than my home country,” he says.

“Well, there’s me,” Tony tells him, laughing at his own joke.

“I suppose you have me there,” T’Challa says but his tone is serious enough that Tony wonders if that was a joke or not.

*

T’Challa has long ago learned the pros and cons of coming from a country that preferred isolation. One was that he rarely had to deal with the racism that permeated the rest of the world- remnants of a time when colonizers spread beliefs about their own supposed superiority. But the downside was that getting involved with world politics was far more difficult when your country ignored the world for two hundred years. There was a lot to catch up on and his father should thank that curious nature he used to hate so much because near everyone in Wakanda would not have taken to learning about the world like he did. Most were content with not being involved with the world, but T’Challa has always wanted more than what he was handed.

Selfish, certainly considering he has recently discovered that his family was the richest in the world, and all the other resources they had certainly didn’t suggest they were lacking elsewhere either. But he already knew what Wakanda had to offer, and he loved his country, but he’s always been curious about what he couldn’t see. It used to drive his father mad until he eventually let T’Challa travel like he wanted to. He must have been pleased when he came back more mature.

Of course now that he had the possibility of doing whatever he wanted he mostly wanted to stay home, which had to irritate his ever patient father. He could see a lot of his own personality reflected in Tony as well- he was adventurous, curious, sometimes a little arrogant, but it was his clear attachment to his home that T’Challa connected to the most. And he knew Tony couldn’t possibly have missed the fact that T’Challa say higher on the social food chain so he’d likely get stuck in Wakanda. The fact that he even got to go back to America was because T’Challa’s father wasn’t awful like Tony’s own father. He could see the knowledge weigh on him though, slowly sapping out that burst of energy he’d gotten when he returned home when he began to struggle with the inevitable having to leave again.

In Wakanda marriage wasn’t the politically useful tool it was in America- marriage was a sacred bond and although his father had chosen to make something of a compromise by marrying T’Challa off for political ends that did not mean he hadn’t considered compatibility. He knew that because the other option was Justin Hammer and after five seconds in his presence T’Challa hated the man- so did Tony for that matter. By the end of the three months in America though T’Challa had made up his mind on what he needed to do.

“Tony,” he says, wincing when Tony jumps and spins around to face T’Challa. He had been looking out over the city from the top of the Tower- a favored past time and probably something he was doing to retain the memory now.

“Yeah?” he asks when T’Challa takes too long to respond, words stuck in his throat.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out, “If… if you like you can stay here,” he says. “In America,” he clarifies.

For a moment Tony looks hurt and T’Challa frowns, unsure why he’d have that reaction. He thought he’d be relieved. “I… you don’t want me to go back with you?” he asks, sounding hurt.

“Of _course_ I do,” T’Challa tells him, “but you don’t want to go. I can see it in the way you’ve been acting and I… I can’t just _drag_ you away from your home. That is cruel,” he says softly. He just couldn’t do something like that to someone he was supposed to share a bond with. It would be selfish to allow Tony to come with him just because he wanted Tony to.

Tony considers this for a long moment, “you… know we’re supposed to be married, right?” he asks, clearly confused.

“Yes, and for that reason I can’t just pull you away from everything you know just because I’d like to. Maybe here that is normal or acceptable, but in my culture we do what is best for the people we love. And what is best for you is letting you have a life where you are comfortable,” he says.

Tony stares at him for a few moments before he walks over and wraps his arms around T’Challa’s waist, pressing his face to his chest. “I love you too,” he says softly.

*

Shuri rolls her eyes at Tony’s melodramatics, “you don’t understand, in America this is melting your tits off hot, and this is mild to you? Fuck, no wonder no one has ever invaded this country,” he mumbles.

“Technically no one invaded because we violently slaughtered anyone who tried,” T’Challa tells him, “but sure, maybe they disliked the weather.”

Tony gives T’Challa an annoyed look but his affection still shows through. “I’m just saying this is an unnaturally hot country. Say what you want about America being drab and depressing but at least we aren’t being baked alive there,” he says.

T’Challa laughs, “no, instead you are being worked to death, which is worse. And your politics is even worse than your assumptions about work ethic. _Plus_ you look drab,” he says.

“Okay I’ll give you politics, it’s a fucking clown show over there, I’m glad I escaped before all this shit with Brock Rumlow went down. Hell, even if I hadn’t decided to come back with you I definitely would have fled here as a refugee anyways,” Tony says.

“Given the average state of your country you probably should have fled here as a refugee simply for being _born_ in your country,” Shuri says, inspiring another laugh from T’Challa.

Tony rolls his eyes fondly, “yeah, yeah, Wakanda is _so_ much better, I’ve heard it all from the locals. Just saying though, America _definitely_ has the superior weather. And we aren’t crazy enough to be petting _jungle cats_ ,” he adds.

Shuri snorts, “that is not true, Americans will pet anything they think is cute. You pet _whales_ of all things. Whales are not an animal you pet,” she says.

“ _Thank_ you!” T’Challa says, sitting straight up and gesturing towards her. “This one thinks it is normal to pet a whale- on what planet is it normal to pet sea creatures?”

“I pet a shark once,” Tony supplies and T’Challa’s eyes grow wide.

“And you are whining about recklessly petting panthers that are used to humans? You have lots all authority on that subject,” T’Challa tells him, waving him off as Tony starts laughing.

Shuri shakes her head but smiles at them, pleased to see that things worked out after all. She had been worried when this all started but it seems that T’Challa managed to find a way to make things work, as usual. She sometimes resented his position as the first sibling and therefore the heir to the throne, but she had to admit he was an excellent problem solver. And she also had to admit that she was happy for her brother- she didn’t have faith this relationship would work and she was thankful she was wrong about that. Besides, she rather liked Tony too. It was nice to have someone other than T’Challa to look at her designs even if he sometimes got lost and she had to explain them to him.

**Author's Note:**

> [My writing Tumblr](https://tenspencerriedplease.tumblr.com/)


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